Gender disparities should be reduced at its earliest and the efforts should start from the domestic space and family as an institution should address these things primarily to create a just society, said, A. Tamilarasi, Minister for Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare.
She was delivering the special address on the topic ‘Women's Participation in Politics,' at the State-level seminar on ‘Women in Social Engineering' organised by Centre for Women's Studies, Lady Doak College and Indian Society for Cultural Cooperation and Friendship at Gandhi Museum as part of International Women's Year celebrations on Monday.
The Minister in her address said that in the case of Tamil Nadu, efforts of Periyar and C.N. Annadurai, and a long history of progressive social movement were responsible for the betterment of women when compared to other States. She also mentioned how Periyar was actively involved in abolishing the practice of Devadasi system and appealed to the women to carry forward his legacy and remember his efforts.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government under M. Karunanidhi had made the efforts of Periyar a reality through legal enactments and the most important among them was the 1989 law facilitating equal property rights for women. Tamil Nadu was the first State to reserve 33 per cent of seats in local bodies for women in 1996.
Ms. Prabha Sridevan, former Judge, Madras High Court, in her address talked about the various aspects of the Legal machinery.
She said that there is no dearth of laws to protect the women but the implementation of these laws becomes the key issue. She also said how women who are victims of domestic violence keep things within themselves and are even afraid thinking about the stigma and not even approach the police station to register a complaint. She also talked about the protection of child witnesses in the case of child sexual abuse, on execution of maintenance order and alimony related issues.
Speaking earlier, Thenmozhi Gopinathan, Mayor, Madurai Corporation said that women in the recent past have made rapid strides in the field of education. She also cited how during the secondary and higher secondary exams it has become a regular feature that girls outnumber boys in terms of achieving a better pass percentage.
Aruna Sivakami Ananthakrishnan, Vice-Chancellor, Mother Teresa Women's University, Kodaikanal, Sridevi, Additional Chief Educational Officer, ‘Education for All' Scheme, Thenmozhi, Superintendent of Police, Food Cell, Madurai, Janaki Krishnan, Deputy General Secretary, ISCUF, Tamil Nadu State Council, Bimla Chandrasekar, Director, EKTA spoke on various topics.
The technical sessions were chaired by Dhulasi Brindha, Retired Senior Professor and Head, Department of Environmental Economics, Madurai Kamaraj University. A. Mercy Pushpalatha, Principal, Lady Doak College, delivered the inaugural address and spoke about the objective of the seminar. Suganda Ramamoorthi, Director, Centre for Women's Studies, LDC, welcomed the gathering. Close to 600 students from 15 colleges in the southern districts took part in the seminar.
